The Yeltsin administration subsidized vodka to make it artificially cheaper.
Posted by The Pete Quiñones Show, Checked
- Sources
- 3 contradict2 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The Pete Quiñones ShowOct 1, 2026
The sources do not show the Yeltsin government subsidizing vodka. They attribute its cheapness to ending the state monopoly, price liberalization, and untaxed or illegal imports, and they report that Yeltsin ended government price subsidies and tried to raise vodka prices with a minimum-price decree.
What was said
… There's not that many Jews left in Russia anymore. Cost of living went up 3000% in this period of time. Alcoholism went through the roof, and strangely enough, vodka was subsidized by the Yeltsin group, making it artificially cheaper. Um 4 million Russians were homeless. The best and the brightest went to the West, and when you compare, say, Hitler's invasion destroyed about 40% of the Russian economy, um this was almost 80% in a few years in the 1990s under American IMF direction. …
The Pete Quiñones Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Britannica reports that Yeltsin ended government price subsidies and controls over food and other consumer goods in early 1992, and the Encyclopedia of Ukraine says his program cut state subsidies.[3][4]
Contradicts. A 1998 New York Times report describes Yeltsin's administration setting a minimum vodka price of 18.4 rubles per liter to eliminate the cost advantage of untaxed vodka, the opposite of subsidizing it.[2]
Supports. A tariff exemption let some charitable institutions import vodka without tariffs, and the sources call this a loophole that fed cheap alcohol consumption. This is the closest the sources come to a state-granted cost break on vodka.[5][6]
Context. Sources attribute cheap vodka to the abolition of the state monopoly in 1992 and the flood of cheap imports, and a 1992 price liberalization, not a government subsidy. The real price fell because most other prices rose faster than vodka.[1][7][8]
Sources
8 sources: 1 primary, 1 tier 2, 6 not rated
- 1Vodka - Russian Studiesmacalester.edu · primary source · cited for: context
- 2Yeltsin Tries to Turn Back Tide of Vodkanytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: contradicts
- 3Boris Yeltsin | Biography & Facts | Britannicabritannica.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4Yeltsin, Boris - Encyclopedia of Ukraineencyclopediaofukraine.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5Vodka: Market Riches After Communism - The Globalisttheglobalist.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6The Parasites Feed: State Capture under Yeltsinacademic.oup.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7Death and prices: The political economy of Russia's alcohol crisisscispace.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 8Alcohol Monopolyencyclopedia.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Boris Yeltsin received 54% of the vote in the mid-1990s despite having 5% popularity.Mixed
- The fall of the Soviet Union led to tens of millions of deaths in Russia.False
- The Russian economy lost 80% of its value in the 1990s under IMF direction.False
- By 1993, Boris Yeltsin had roughly a 10% popularity rate.False
- In the 1990s, about 80% of the Soviet economy was liquidated.Can’t tell